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Micro Branding – The Philosophy

Micro Branding as seen from the Coffee and allied Services Industry Perspective

Businesses are expected to spend on Global Advertising in the region of 6 million USD by 2020. , with a rise in Micro Branding to be realised specifically in Asia Pac countries. The highest areas of rise, will continue to be in conventional methods such as TV, internet and other digital media platforms. Reports show that consumers develop Advert-blindness, and internet users will skip past adverts, to get to their desired web page.

Martin Lindstorm a Brand and Marketing speaker and author, talks about Lijjat Papad or Poppadum’s as you’d know it, a popular brand of Papad known all across India, which he recalls not for its popularity or quality of the fine bread or papad they produce, he is fascinated by the way its promoted and its outreach.

Lijjat Papad is a cooperative initiative where thousands of the village households participate in the process, these breads are not produced in a mass production factory, but instead are produced by women in villages and are transported by the cooperative by trucks to distribution points and then directly deliver to thousands of corner stores all across India. Lijjat has given home made an all new meaning, and along with that has proven that word of mouth promotion works cheaper and better than big corporate budgets. This is an example of Influencer Marketing.

Influencer Marketing and micro branding- A recent report in Time Magazine, showed that on average a 16-year student would deliberately skip past the array of advertising on their social media pages to get to the location they wanted. This is a nightmare for Marketing companies, trying to win over those 16-year olds, the vast number of celebrity endorsements, the flash images, did nothing to make the average student stop to view the advertisement, of those interviewed the comments were “I think it’s everywhere, it does not really interest me, I just skip past it”.

There is a brand of advertising that the students stop and listen to, these are their influencers, be it, Vloggers, who they tune into too for makeup tips, fashion advice. Why? What makes us listen to people who influence us? The answer is clear, belief…. Belief that our influencer would not try and sell something that they did not believe in. They are often clear in their advertising about financial arrangements for products they are endorsing on behalf of advertisers and the consumer feels their opinion matters and they are being listened to and probably more importantly, they are spreading the word and influencing their circle, by sharing on their own Social Media.

Whilst using celebrities to market products is not new, the idea of Micro Branding is. Marketers are aware that consumers of all ages, are connected to their phone, it is used for calls, communicating and watching movies. Research shows that is why consumers will respond to brand messages that come via an Influencer, because an influencers success partly relies on authenticity. The consumer will feel like they are listening to a friend, who you go to for advice. The influencers, don’t have a script, they are speaking from their experience of the product. This is helping marketers to be able to reach a group of consumers that normally they would find it difficult to reach.

A recent report shows that micro-influencers on Instagram with fewer than 1,000 followers earn an engagement rate of 8%. For those with 1,000 to 10,000 followers, that drops to 4%.

For those with 10,000 to 100,000, engagement happens 2.4% of the time. And for anyone with over a million followers, engagement falls to just 1.7%. These decreasing rates also apply to likes, comments and hold true for sponsored posts too.

So, the audience for a micro-influencer is obviously smaller, but the engagement rates are much higher. It makes sense to work with a group of micro-influencers to further your reach, rather than one influencer who has an army of followers. This may take more time, but it will be worth it when the results come in. They can be more valuable in a number of ways.

Micro Influencers are value for money, the increased engagement and authenticity mean that you get more exposure for your cash. Micro Influencers are going to demand huge pay cheques for their endorsement. Treating them like a team member, offering free products and services goes a long way. It is always important that they feel they are of value and their efforts are appreciated build a relationship with influencers that is beneficial to both parties.

Naked juice – Teamed up with Life Style Blogger – Kate la Vie to advertise their range of juices on Instagram, Kate posts photographs of her daily life with her trusted bottle of Naked Juice, strategically placed, she reminds viewers the benefits of drinking Naked Juice, with a caption and a #.

Another excellent example of how Micro Influencing works is – During the end of 2016, boat shoe brand Sperry, has engaged 100 micro influencers on Instagram. They identified fans of the brand who were already photos of their products, and started to invite these users to develop visual content for their official Instagram account.

So! Who is your influencer? Whether you are a small café, you are an independent trader, a Dog Walker, you need to start somewhere. You have a brand! You are the Brand! How do you advertise, who and what are your influences? The simple answer is your customers, those people you have reached. If you can promote your brand to them, they can promote it to others.

How can this be achieved? If you give a great service – no one mentions it, give a bad service and that person will tell 10 people. So how do we pass on the great service. Your company name on the coffee cup you are serving, gives consumers not only the confidence you make great coffee or serve great cake, but also that you are proud of what you deliver, and you are worth investing in. Your image stays with them not only during you’re their direct experience but afterwards, and that’s what makes them come back to you, and indirectly influence others into using your services.

This is achieved without having to invest in an expensive advertising campaign, where your influencers would not engage.